Houston startup's AI-driven networking and education platform to soft launch in TMC

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Flourishing Nexus recently won runner up in the innovation category of the city's Liftoff Houston competition. Photo courtesy of the City of Houston

Connecting medical professionals is about to get easier thanks to a new Houston company, Flourishing Nexus.

Next month, their digital platform, The Nexus, will debut to in a soft launch to a curated group of TMC employees.

“Think of it as a combination of existing platforms like LinkedIn, providing professional networking; Khan Academy, which provides excellent training and education; and a collaborative workspace like Google Workspace or Microsoft Teams, all enhanced by AI,” says Diane Nguyen.

Nguyen is a pharmacist by training, while her co-founder, Satid Thammasitboon, is an MD and master in health professions education.

The pair began working together in the health professions education space three years ago, but only established Flourishing Nexus in July of 2023. The company’s moniker refers to the concept of human flourishing.

“Our mission would be to promote human flourishing among health professionals,” says Thammasitboon.

The concept of human flourishing traces back at least to Aristotle, but The Nexus’ understanding of it is based on psychologist and educator Martin Seligman’s PERMA theory. The mnemonic stands for Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment.

“We endeavor to bring these concepts of PERMA and human flourishing into the health professions space,” says Nguyen.

“Often our healthcare organizations or industries, when they hear health professionals are having issues with burnout, the response or reaction would be to increase incentive, financial support, or professional development to enhance resilience,” adds Thammasitboon. “We search for meaning we want to make a difference in the life of another rather than ‘everything is all about money.’”

Both professionals have globe-spanning careers. Thailand native Thammasitboon says that his endeavors have taken him across Europe, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, while Nguyen’s work has focused her attention on South America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Eastern Europe.

“I realized that the key to providing better outcomes and health care for the patients was really dependent on the continuing education and training of the staff,” Nguyen says.

Those experiences proved to be the roots from which The Nexus grew.

But the team’s colleagues abroad won’t be among the first The Nexus users. That distinction will belong to Houston’s rich community of medical pros. And when the platform soft launches in January, it will be with two awards already under its belt.

The Liftoff Houston Startup Business Plan competition took place last month. Nine finalists, mostly entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds, were selected from among 100 applicants to compete in Liftoff’s Pitch Day. Not only was The Nexus among those competitors, it raked in a runner-up prize, as well as fan favorite in the innovation category.

Nguyen, who did the pitching, says that Liftoff helped Flourishing Nexus tremendously with both its preparation workshops and feedback from the judges.

“Sometimes you think you have a great idea but it’s not until you critically think about your own plan, analyze your plan, and prepare to pitch it that you really learn about it. This preparation helped us and strengthened our mission. Our business plan is much better,” says Thammasitboon.

Next up? Launching and growing The Nexus’ community. Nguyen also says they plan to participate in more competitions, including possibly Houston Community College’s Business Plan Competition. It’s one more way of bringing the abstract concept of human flourishing to a flesh and blood audience.

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UH lands $3M grant to expand opioid overdose training

Overdose Response

The University of Houston has received a $3 million federal grant to expand its potentially life-saving overdose response training program.

The grant will support the Houston Health Department’s FRONTLINES program that trains first responders in Harris and Fort Bend counties to recognize opioid overdoses and administer the drug naloxone, which can counter the effects of an opioid overdose. The four-year grant comes from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services, and it builds on eight years of work at UH, according to a release from the university.

As part of the expansion, UH medical, social work and psychology students will now also be able to take part in FRONTLINES’ overdose-response training. Some of the students will also be selected to help train community members, ultimately passing along the life-saving skills throughout Houston.

FRONTLINES is a collaboration with the City of Houston, the Fertitta College of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine and the Houston Recovery Center. It was co-founded by Dr. James Bray, chair of the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Houston’s Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine, in 2018.

“When someone experiencing an opioid overdose is reached in time, naloxone can save their life,” Bray said in a news release. “We’ve seen the impact this training can have in Houston, and now we have an opportunity to extend that reach across Harris and Fort Bend counties, putting lifesaving knowledge and tools into the hands of more first responders.”

In 2024, around 450 residents of Harris County died from opioid overdoses, according to a Texas Department of State Health Services report. The report found that fentanyl was involved in about three-quarters of the deaths.

In 2025, UH also received a $2.6 million gift from the estate of Dr. William A. Gibson to expand its opioid research and develop a vaccine to help block fentanyl's effectiveness in entering the brain. The vaccine research is part of the Michael C. Gibson Addiction Research Program led by UH professor of psychology Therese Kosten and founding member of the UH Drug Discovery Institute Colin Haile. Read more about the grant and the vaccine’s development here.

Texas public libraries drive billions in economic impact, report finds

Beyond the Stacks

A new statewide study examining the economic impacts of public libraries has revealed they have generated over $3.8 billion in value to local communities — a return of $4.74 for every $1 invested.

The report, "Beyond the Stacks: Measuring the Economic and Community Value of Texas Public Libraries" was conducted by third-party consultancy JBK Economics Group in partnership with the Texas Library Association. About 300 of the total 513 public libraries in Texas participated in a survey for the report.

A major finding from the survey revealed that public libraries create billions in economic value for the communities they serve at a fraction of what it costs to pay employee wages and benefits, operating expenditures, and capital expenditures. About 11,200 jobs were directly and indirectly supported by public libraries, the report found.

The report found its $4.74 to $1 ratio by adding up the total value of the services provided by these institutions (an estimated $2.48 billion), and comparing it to total expenditures ($808.6 million).

"Public libraries had about the same economic footprint as the Texas motion picture and sound recording industry ($2.9 billion in Gross Domestic Product in 2024) or the Texas paper manufacturing industry ($4.0 billion in Gross Domestic Product in 2024)," the report said.

Many Houstonians are already familiar with Houston Public Library's expansive catalog and programming, but there are many more services the library provides that might fly under the radar. A few examples include access to subscription-based research databases and news outlets, and the Library of Things, a collection of cookware and bake ware, musical instruments, craft kits, and other tools or activity materials that are available for cardholders to borrow. Individual branches also provide free Wi-Fi, computer access, and meeting spaces.

Houston-area residents also have access to services at several other local libraries depending on their address, such as the Harris County Public Library, Montgomery County Memorial Library System, or Fort Bend County Libraries, just to name a few.

These are additional services and partnerships that Texas public libraries commonly provide, per the survey results:

  • 93 percent provide voter registration and/or serve as voting locations
  • 84 percent provide partnerships with local social services agencies
  • 82 percent provide job application assistance
  • 68 percent facilitate applications for government benefits
  • 38 percent provide on-site social services
  • 30 percent provide telehealth rooms and/or resources
"Public libraries are practical, welcoming and rooted in the communities they serve — they are unmistakably Texan," said Texas Library Association executive director Shirley Robinson in a press release. "This study puts a dollar value on the opportunities libraries create every day. Whether someone visits a library to apply for a job, access the internet, learn a new skill or simply find a new favorite book, those services create real value for Texans and their communities."

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This article first appeared on CultureMap.com.

Rice University launches new venture fund for university-affiliated startups

startup support

Rice University has launched its new One Giant Leap Ventures Fund I, which will invest in the university’s spinouts and alumni-founded startups.

The early-stage institutional venture fund will function with a hybrid structure that allows for participation from traditional equity investors and philanthropic investors. According to the university, the fund will invest up to $500,000 per Rice-affiliated company.

To be considered eligible for funds, companies must use intellectual property licensed by the university or be led or founded by alumni.

One Giant Leap will draw on support and mentorship from Rice’s pool of 60,000 alumni and aims to create educational opportunities within the investment phases, work with graduate and undergraduate venture students, explore the scaling and commercialization of their ideas, and help investigate all the facets of venture capital.

“Rice alumni bring an extraordinary depth of experience as entrepreneurs, investors and industry leaders, and One Giant Leap creates new ways to put that expertise to work for the next generation of Rice innovators,” Stephen Bayer, vice president for development and alumni relations, said in a news release. “It strengthens the connection between our alumni and the university while giving them meaningful opportunities to mentor, advise and support Rice-affiliated companies as they grow.”

The fund held its first close in August and made its first investment into Rice brain health spinout Motif Neurotech. Led by Rice faculty member Jacob Robinson, Motif is working to commercialize a minimally invasive neurostimulator that targets treatment-resistant depression. In May, the FDA approved the company to move forward with its first clinical trial.

“Research produces breakthrough technologies and our academic environment forms outstanding entrepreneurs,” said Adrian Trömel, the fund’s managing director, a Rice alumnus and a startup founder who also serves as Rice’s interim chief innovation officer.

One Giant Leap joins the already long list of Rice-led programs that foster innovation, including the Liu Idea Labs for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s Innovation Fellows and Summer Venture Studio, the Rice Alliance’s Business Plan Competition, the Ion District, Woodside Rice Decarbonization Accelerator, Rice Nexus, the Biotech Launchpad and RBL Ventures and its upcoming 200,000 square-foot research lab the Arc.

“With One Giant Leap, I am excited that we are creating a unique structure that brings together traditional investment and philanthropic participation to invest in and help catalyze our startups, engage the deep expertise within the Rice ecosystem and transform those strengths into real-world impact,” Trömel added in the release.

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